Cartoon Violence

CD Review: 
"Whatever Happened To The Likely Lad"
by Cartoon Violence


1 Vauxhall Nova@3:04
2 Attic@3:38
3 Teresa@3:32
4 Cartoon Violence@2:58
5 Easy Tiger@3:05
6 Do Something About It@3:51
7 Rattlesnake@3:38
8 Kite@3:05
9 Johnny Come Lately@5:54

I knew I would like this CD in the first ten seconds. It isn't ska-punk. It isn't trad-ska or skinhead-reggae. It is what I think of as classic UK pop ska. Piano is featured prominently in the mix and it sounds great. That coupled with the vocals made me think of Madness right away. They aren't copying the sound, but they are mining the same vein only without horns.

There are nine tracks on the CD. Four are outstanding. Three are good. Only two are clunkers in my opinion. Oddly, one of the tracks I don't like (#7) was featured on the recent Do The Dog Chooses episode on Pressure Drop Soundcast. Not everyone likes the same stuff.

The lyrics are clever and very catchy. I found myself singing along, even if I had no idea what the lyrics meant. The sound quality and musicianship are first rate. The tempo varies within many of the songs along with the loudness and I like this device. It helps to build tension. My two favorite tracks are "Attic" and "Johnny Come Lately". There is an odd 45 second intro to "Johnny Come Lately", but then the piano starts and you get pulled right in. It seems "Johnny" has ED, and the spelling of "Come" in the title has been sanitized. Poor lad.

Cartoon Violence are on the Do The Dog record label out of the UK. They have several tracks up on their myspace page. The label says: 

"Superb debut album by Welsh 4 piece crew. Cartoon Violence are the new side project formed by 3 Minute Warning keyboardist Chuzz & their sound is an insanely catchy affair that mixes super bouncy 2 tone ska with distinctly British sounding pop & indie stylings. The 9 track album looks set to garner the band many instant fans with its endless soaring energy, great sing-a-long choruses & wonderful piano melodies!"

I agree! The CD isn't on iTunes. You can order it from Do the Dog. You won't be sorry. There a bunch of other good artists on the label to check out as well.